How to Turn Off Focus on iPhone [2024 Guide]

Launched with iOS 15, Focus mode is a great feature that minimizes distractions so you can concentrate on the things that matter to you. You can focus on your work without being swayed away by never-ending notifications, messages, and other distractions. That said, when you’re done with your work, you would want to have all your social media alerts and notifications flowing in, like always. For this, you should know how to turn off Focus on an iPhone. In this article, we’ll tell you three ways to get out of Focus modes. Here you go!

Table of Contents

Method 1: Disable Focus from Control Center

The simplest way to turn off Focus on an iPhone is through the Control Center. The process is super quick and takes a few seconds. Here’s how to do it:

In the below example, I will turn off Personal Focus mode on my iPhone.

• Swipe down from the top-right of your iPhone’s screen to reveal the Control Center.
• Now, tap on the Focus mode icon. It may say something like Work, Personal, Sleep, etc. The enabled Focus will appear on a white background.
• Tap on the enabled Focus to turn off and exit Focus.

• To ensure that your iPhone isn’t in the Focus mode, make sure no Focus is highlighted.

Method 2: Disable Focus from Lock Screen

Interestingly, you can also disable Focus right from the lock screen of your iPhone. Yes, you’ve heard it right. The lock screen displays the enabled focus mode as a label. To get your iPhone out of the Focus mode, simply long-press on the label displayed on the Lock Screen. This will bring up different modes, highlighting the one that you’ve selected currently. Tap on the enabled Focus to deactivate it.

Method 3: Ask Siri to Turn Off Focus

Lastly, you can also ask Siri to turn off Focus on your iPhone. I often use Siri to set alarms on my iPhone, enable or disable certain iOS settings, set multiple timers, and do much more. If you’re someone like me who prefers to give voice commands than messing around with the settings, you’ll surely appreciate this method.

Simply say “Hey Siri, turn off Do not Disturb” or something like “Siri, turn off Personal Focus”. Siri will instantly disable Focus, and show up a confirmation. Remember, with iOS 17, you can change “Hey Siri” to “Siri” on your iPhone.

Once you’ve disabled Do Not Disturb Focus mode on your iPhone, you’ll receive all your phone calls, messages, alerts, notifications, and other stuff that you usually do.

How to Delete a Focus on iPhone

Besides the pre-defined modes, iOS lets you custom-create a Focus on your iPhone. For instance, I’ve set up a Driving Focus that filters unwanted notifications, works great with CarPlay, and allows calls and texts from specific contacts. Sometimes, this feature can be quite overwhelming. As a result, you end up creating multiple focus modes. If you no longer need a Focus on your iPhone, you can easily delete it. Here are the steps to do it:

Note: You can only delete custom focus modes, and not the default ones.

• Open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to the Focus section.
• Here, tap on the Focus you want to delete.
• Now, scroll down to the bottom and hit Delete Focus.

Once a Focus is deleted, you will have to set it up again when you want to use it. For this, head to Settings -> Focus and tap on the “+” icon.

That’s how you can turn off Focus on an iPhone. I personally like the Focus modes. They give you some peace of mind and help avoid distractions when you’re working or trying to sleep. Do you like Focus mode on an iPhone? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.